Greater Noida authority may cancel allotment of group housing plots lying idle

NOIDA: The Greater Noida Authority has initiated a comprehensive survey led by a financial consultancy
firm to assess the status of construction on plots allocated to real estate builders for group housing projects. GNIDA officials said plot allotments of the builders who have failed to commence construction or deposit dues will be cancelled. During a review meeting on Wednesday, GNIDA chief executive officer Ritu Maheshwari directed the consultant, Currie & Brown, to start the survey.
She also instructed officials to include the cancelled plots in the next land scheme.Apart from identifying defunct projects, the survey will also evaluate under-construction projects and
explore the possibility of including them in the co-developer policy – under which another promoter can
complete the project and clear dues – which is currently under consideration by the development authority.

Plots of around eight projects have been cancelled in the past five years. According to GNIDA data, of the
193 group housing projects in Greater Noida, 63 projects have been fully paid for, while the remaining
projects have accumulated dues amounting to a staggering sum of over Rs 13,000 crore. Among these
projects, the developers of 97 projects alone owe the authority over Rs 5,000 crore.
Besides them, 21 projects are pending in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), while 12 belong
to Amrapali and Unitech that are being heard in the Supreme Court. Officials clarified that cancellation
action will not be taken against projects currently under litigation or in NCLT. Similarly, towers within
builder projects where residents are already residing will not be affected.

GNIDA officer on special duty (OSD) Saumya Srivastava emphasised that the primary focus of this
exercise is to provide relief to the end users, primarily homebuyers.
“Around 50 projects in various stages of construction will be part of this survey, which aims to assess
their construction status, viability and outstanding dues. The consultant has been given one month to
submit their report, including financial inputs required for each project,” he added.
Srivastava further said both GNIDA and the state government are actively working towards resolving
builder-buyer issues.